The Flagstaff War
A few years following The Treaty of Waitangi, things were quiet, and the Maori and European people kept the peace. In 1842, the British put the 17-year old son of a chief named Maketū Wharetōtara on trial, because he slaughtered a group of European men, women, and children that he had been living and working with on a farm. When they asked him why he killed them, he said that they “offended his mana”, or took away his birthright as the chief’s son. They found him guilty of homicide and executed him. Even though the natives had killed dozens of Europeans in the past, this was the first time that the British colonizers had enough power to even enforce their own laws on Maori people.
In 1845, the British government began trying to take even more control over the lives of the Maori people by enacting new laws. A tribal leader named Hone Heke could tell that if they allowed this to continue, the English would completely take over their culture. So he decided to chop down the flagpole that the British settlers had been flying the Union Jack on Maiki Hill as a symbol of rebellion that they were not going to take orders.
This act of vandalism escalated into actual battles, which are remembered as “The Flagstaff War”, “The Northern War”, or “Hone Heke’s Rebellion”. The flag was cut down multiple times as Hone Heke demanded that Maori tribal leaders should be allowed a seat in government. He had actually been a supporter of The Treaty of Waitangi, because it was supposed to be an equal partnership between the Maori and English people. If anything, the English were not putting up with their end of the deal by enforcing their rules.
The fighting got so bad, women and children had to be evacuated onto the ships in the harbor. Buildings burned to the ground, and it did 50,000 pounds’ worth of property damage, which is more like $6 million with today’s inflation. It was too much for a lot of colonial people to handle, so most of them sold their land for next to nothing and moved back to England. Of course, there were some that thought the fighting was worth the effort.